Background
Prior to the launch of the channel, the concept of providing the public with continuous weather reports on television stretched back to the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The launch of the channel
“The Weather Channel” was founded on July 18, 1980, by meteorologist John Coleman. The channel was launched on May 2, 1982 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. From 1982-2002, weather forecasts were created regionally and transmitted to the National Weather Service. Since 2002, all forecasts have been made in Atlanta.
Sale
On January 3, 2008, Landmark Communications put the Weather Channel and its assets up for sale. On July 6 of that year, NBC Universal, Bain Capital and the Blackstone Group agreed to purchase the channel. The sale was finalized by September 12.
From November 2008 to February 2009, seven longtime weather anchors were fired from the channel. In July 2010, Bill Kenealy, who had worked since 1982, was fired. In December of that year, Nicole Mitchell was fired and later sued.
Recent years.
In January 2012, David Kenney took over as the channel’s chief executive officer. That same year, The Weather Channel Companies changed its name to The Weather Channel Company. At the same time, it acquired a competing weather service and website, Weather Underground.
On September 9, 2015, a phased revision of the broadcasting grid was announced. Programs directly related to the weather remained on the air.
On April 18, 2009, the channel’s broadcasting was temporarily stopped due to a malware attack.
